AIIMS-New Delhi, IISc Bangalore and others Bag India Research Excellence Awards announced by Clarivate Analytics

Clarivate Analytics, a global leader in trusted insights and analytics for research and innovation, has announced the seventh edition of the India Research Excellence – Citation Awards.  Since 2004, Clarivate Analytics has presented these awards to identify and recognize the most influential researchers and institutions for their outstanding and pioneering research contribution to the country.

This year’s awards were announced at an evening event at the Hotel Sheraton, New Delhi.  Distinguished speakers included Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Dr. Bhushan Patwardhan, Vice-Chairman, University Grants Commission, and Dr. Anand Desai, Research Policy and Assessment Advisor, Institute for Scientific Information. The awards ceremony celebrated eight individual researchers and eleven institutions for their exemplary research contributions.

The awards were based on indepth analysis conducted on data from the Web of Science citation index and InCites – a research performance and benchmarking tool. Highly cited research publications that imply high impact research published during the period 2012-2018 were an important criterion, among others, for the analysis.   An expert panel at the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) took the metrics and qualitative review into consideration to decide on the recipient for each category.

Arvind Pachhapur, South Asia Head Clarivate Analytics, said: “We are grateful for this opportunity to recognize research excellence in India.  The country and the world at large benefits from impactful research that advances the frontiers of knowledge.  These awards celebrate the research excellence demonstrated by many outstanding researchers and institutions as captured in Web of Science.”

The individual award recipients are:

 

• Dr. Gautam R. Desiraju, Lifetime Achievement 

• Dr. Sujit Ghosh, Young Researcher

• Dr. Vinod Kumar Gupta, Research Excellence in Natural Sciences

• Dr. Anuradha Chowdhary, Research Excellence in Medical and Health Sciences

• Dr. Dinesh Mohan, Research Excellence in Engineering and Technology

• Dr. Narpinder Singh and Dr. Amritpal Kaur, Research Excellence in Agricultural Sciences

 

• Dr. Vikram Patel, Research Excellence in Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Sciences

The institutional award recipients are:

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  • Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Institutions Established over 15 Years
  
  
  • National Institute of Science Education and Research, Institutions Established within 15 Years
  
  
  
  

 

• Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Research Excellence in Natural Sciences

 

• 
  
  
  
  • All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Research Excellence in Medical and Health Sciences
  
  
  • Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Research Excellence in Engineering and Technology
  
  
  
  

 

• Guru Nanak Dev University, Research Excellence in Agricultural Sciences

 

• Indian School of Business, Research Excellence in Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Sciences


• Aligarh Muslim University, Central University


• Bharathiar University, State University


• Vellore Institute of Technology, Deemed or Private University


• Christian Medical College Vellore, College – Professional Degree


• Loyola College, College – General Degree

About Web of Science Group 

Web of Science Group organizes the world’s research information to enable academia, corporations, publishers and governments accelerate the pace of research.  It is powered by the Web of Science – the world’s largest publisher-neutral citation index and research intelligence platform. Its many well-known brands also include Converis, EndNote, Kopernio, Publons, ScholarOne and the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).   The ‘university’ of Web of Science Group, ISI maintains the knowledge corpus upon which the index and related information and analytical content and services are built; it disseminates that knowledge externally through events, conferences and publications and it carries out research to sustain, extend and improve the knowledge base. The Web of Science Group is a Clarivate Analytics company.

About Clarivate Analytics 

Clarivate Analytics plc (NYSE:CCC; CCC.WS) is a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation. We have built some of the most trusted brands across the innovation lifecycle, including Web of Science™, Cortellis™, Derwent™, CompuMark™, MarkMonitor™ and Techstreet™. Today, Clarivate Analytics™ is on a bold entrepreneurial mission to help customers reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing innovations. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.

Energy leaders came together to celebrate India Energy Storage Week on 3rd World Energy Storage Day

100+ participants from 50+ industries and 10 National Research labs contributed to IESA Energy Storage & EV R&D forum

• MoU was signed between Meity Startup Hub (MSH) and India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) to support the energy storage & EV startup ecosystem


• 80+ Investors attended the IESA Investor Forum and Start up pitch session featuring seven handpicked startups


• IESA launched a virtual accelerator program for startups focusing on energy storage and EV sector


• 30+ participants from companies interested in diversifying in energy storage & EV sector attended the 3rd IESA- IEEMA Masterclass on advanced battery manufacturing technology

More than 200 industry leaders gathered at India Energy Storage Alliance’s (IESA) India Energy Storage Week (IESW) to celebrate 3rd World Energy Storage Day in Delhi and Mumbai respectively. From 23rd September to 27th September the week-long activity saw representatives working on Technology, R&D, Policy and Investment collaborated and shared their thoughts on the future of storage.

Supported by Department of Science & Technology (DST), on 23rd September, India Energy Storage - EV Technology and R&D Forum took place in Delhi. Shri Gopalakrishnan S., Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) inaugurated the session and briefed on How MeitY is promoting all startups in India including energy storage. An MoU was signed between Meity Startup Hub (MSH) and IESA to support the startup ecosystem of the country. Shri Sanjay Bajpai, Head- Technology Missions Division, DST who chaired the session on ‘Vision setting for Indian R&D Ecosystem’ stressed upon the Mission Innovation program and its challenges in climate change. Dr. H Purshottam, CMD, National Research Development Corporation said that there's no lack of funds by the Government to support the startups and this is the best time for the innovation and R&D. Shri Sajid Mubashir, Scientist G, Department of Science & Technology (DST); Shri Arvind Kumar, Group Coordinator & Scientist 'G', R&D in Electronics, MeitY; Dr Tata Narasinga Rao, Scientist G & Associate Director, International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI); Mr. Alan Greenshields, Chairman, Innolith AG and others were some of the eminent speakers in the forum.

The inaugural session at 3rd India Energy Storage & EV Policy Forum, 24th September, Delhi focused on ways to make India a global hub for manufacturing of advanced energy storage and EV systems. An insightful presentation was made by Mr. Aman Hans, Public Private Partnership Specialist, NITI Aayog This was followed by panel discussion with Mr. Pankaj Batra, Chairman, ETD-52 Committee, BIS, Past Chairman, CEA; Dr. Rahul Walawalkar, President, India Energy Storage Alliance; Mr. Alan Greenshield, Chairman, Innolith; and Mr. Garett Fitzgerald, Manager (India), Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). Mr. Pankaj Batra chaired the session on Energy Storage System for Stationary Applications for Grid Balancing, RE support and Energy Access. Mr. Saurabh Kumar, MD, Energy Efficiency Services Limited

(EESL )spoke on EV adoption in India, form factors across 2 wheelers, 3 wheelers and four wheelers, On Battery swapping and EV charging as part of the IGBC code. The forum brought together senior dignitaries and stakeholders from public and private utilities in the energy domain. The Utility Roundtable focused on energy storage requirements for utilities to manage high integration of renewables & peak management, ancillary services, grid stability, the impact of EVs on utility & the role of utilities in Charging Infra creation. What was also discussed was that charging of electric vehicles should be during the non-peak periods, which can be done through differential Time-of-day tariffs. The pain points from the DISCOMs point of view, as a result of most of the burden of intermittency being borne by DISCOMs, was also elaborately explained by B.B. Mehta, Chief Engineer, State Load Despatch Centre, GETCO.

IESA organized India’s first Investment forum focused on Energy Storage and Electric Vehicle ecosystem in partnership with Haitong Securities on September 25th, 2019 at Taj Santacruz, Mumbai. The event was a grand success with almost 50 investors (including institutional investors, family offices and angel investors) attending the event and gaining a better understanding of this fast- evolving ecosystem through interactions with industry leaders operating in this space. The event covered a wide range of topics from government initiatives as highlighted by Mr. Aman Hans, Public Private Partnership Specialist, Consultant, NITI Aayog, Government of India to business outlook as shared by Mr. Anil Gupta, Director, Okaya Power; Mr. Rakesh Malhotra, Founder, SAR group and Mr. Deepak Thakur , CEO, Energy Storage & Hybrid Solutions, Sterling and Wilson. The global perspective of energy storage applications was shared by Mr. Alan Greenshields, Chairman, Innolith and Mr. Jitendra Kulkarni, Vice President - Innovations at SoftBank Energy. In the electric mobility segment, leading players like Exicom and Toyota shared their viewpoints about the industry trajectory and what investors can expect from their investments in this space in the future. Startups such as VFLow Tech Pte Ltd, Statcon Enegiaa Pvt. Ltd, Supriya Charging infra LLP (Chhabi), Estimo Solutions Pvt Ltd, Raptee Motors Pvt Ltd, Cellerite Systems Pvt. Ltd and RangDe presented their pitch to scale their operations. These covered a wide range of applications from battery manufacturing, power electronics, EV infra analytics, electric two-wheeler OEM and charging infrastructure OEM. IESA launched a virtual accelerator program for startups focusing on energy storage and EV sector which will help the selected startups in reaching their goals.

The weeklong activities concluded with 2 days Masterclass on Advanced Storage Technology and Manufacturing Process on 26th and 27th September, Mumbai in association with Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA). This saw more than 30+ participants in the masterclass. The discussion focused on advanced storage technology like lithium Sulphur, batteries for EV applications, manufacturing of components associated with EV and EV market overview and policy aspects from India. A lot of question was raised towards the availability of raw material reserve in India to which the speakers settled that India has enough reserve if other components of battery material can be considered (like Separator, Aluminum foil, Copper foil, etc.) Another important discussion was on should India simultaneously focus on commercialization of lab scale product. The Master class ended with a detailed manufacturing process and testing of batteries session.

Dr. Rahul Walawalkar, President, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) says, “We’re overwhelmed by the response received from the industry during India Energy Storage Week (IESW). I would like to thank the Policy makers, Regulators, Think Tank, National labs, Leadership Council, Members and our Partners for their active contribution. The goal of IESW was to build awareness and realize the importance of energy storage in application areas including EV, renewables, and carbon emission reduction. We look forward to many more celebration on World Energy Storage Day next year worldwide.” 

The five-day long celebration of IESW and the discussions held in the same indicates the importance of storage and the critical role the technology will play in the achievement of India’s energy security. All the discussions held in the sessions stressed about indigenous manufacturing, setting up of appropriate standards, procedures and laying out of proper policies and regulatory frameworks to make storage deployment sustainable over the long run.

About India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA): 

The India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) was launched in 2012 to assess the market potential of Energy Storage Technologies in India, through an active dialogue and subsequent analysis among the various stakeholders to make the Indian industry and power sector aware of the tremendous need for Energy Storage in the very near future. IESA aims to make India a Global Hub for research and manufacturing of advanced energy storage technologies by 2020. During past years, IESA membership has grown from 5 to 90+ and covers verticals from Energy Storage Manufacturers, Research institutes & universities, Renewable Energy companies and Power electronics companies.

India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) website: http://indiaesa.info/about-iesa

India’s Top Women Coders to Battle it out as TechGig Geek Goddess 2019 is Announced

She came. She coded. She conquered. Hailing from a remote village in Bihar, the story of Snehlata Mishra from being an unspotted talent in the world of technology to conquering a 95-day long coding battle and becoming the Champion of TechGig Geek Goddess 2018, is nothing short of inspirational.

Giving wings to the dreams of many such talented women technologists, India’s biggest online technology community, TechGig recently announced the new edition of the popular coding contest, Geek Goddess 2019. This women-only coding competition was declared open for registrations on August 19 and will be accepting code submissions till October 14, 2019. So far, the edition has garnered 37,705 registrations.

For decades, there has been a lot of talk on improving the representation of women in technology, but little improvement on the ground. Several underlying biases have worked against women in the field of technology. A TechGig survey conducted among women IT professionals revealed that as many as 74% of women in technology believe that a definite bias exists against them and, hence their suggestions are often dismissed by their male colleagues.

 "TechGig Geek Goddess 2019 promises to be bigger and better than all of its previous editions. The kind of enthusiastic queries that we have already received from our community makes me believe that this year’s edition of Geek Goddess will do justice to the expectations and help corporate India spot the brightest and most talented women IT professionals in the country. My best wishes to all the participants", said Sanjay Goyal, Business Head, TimesJobs and TechGig.

Similar to last year, American Express, a globally integrated payments company, has joined hands with TechGig in its journey to find the best women technologists in India.

“We’re delighted to once again partner with TechGig Geek Goddess on this ground-breaking competition,” said Ruchika Panesar, vice president of technology at American Express.

“We believe that an inclusive and diverse workforce provides a competitive advantage in the marketplace. American Express is committed to developing a talent pool that brings together unique perspectives, backgrounds and experiences, and we’re proud to stand by side with TechGig to back women in technology.”

The fifth edition of this popular coding contest for women technologists will witness intense competition in themes like Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Cloudify Everything, Solution Hunters Hackathon among others.

Over the years, TechGig Geek Goddess code competition has witnessed enthusiastic participation from women coders from across India. In fact, in the previous year, the competition saw participation from 68,791 women technologists and helped several women techies realise their dreams.

“I enjoyed every minute of the event. Everything was executed so perfectly! After meeting and listening to all women leaders, I am more motivated and rebel. In today’s world where we are constantly talking about gender diversity, TechGig is one platform which is doing something about it. I would highly recommend this great platform for all women coders to showcase their skills,” said Snehlata Mishra, TechGig Geek Goddess 2018 champion.

Another promising technology talent from the 2018 competition, Nithya Vasudevan, the Machine Learning theme winner said, “TechGig Geek Goddess was a good opportunity for many of us to showcase our talent and motivate us by introducing us to women leaders from top IT/Tech companies. TechGig is a great platform to create transparency between coders, technology enthusiasts and top companies.”

About TechGig

TechGig is a culmination of everything related to technology. TechGig is a platform exclusively for IT professionals to synergize, share, exchange ideas, facts and information as well as showcase their work and express their views on the vast repertoire that the IT industry encompasses. Garnering cutting-edge insights, jobs, reviews and news, as well as providing a platform for connecting with colleagues and peers are the mainstay of TechGig.

Oncology Startup Carer partners with Fortis Hospital for Cancer Treatment

Carer, India’s first integrative oncology startup that provides personalized cancer care to patients, has partnered with Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore to provide an integrative approach to treating cancer.

Integrative Oncology is the use of non-clinical therapies along with conventional forms of cancer treatment to improve the effectiveness of treatment and patient outcomes. Through this partnership, Carer will deliver non-clinical therapies like physical rehabilitation, psychological intervention, and nutrition management to help cancer patients manage their disease better.

The Carer Protocol will be delivered to Fortis patients at home from the time of diagnosis and continue throughout treatment and post-treatment. As a part of the partnership, Carer will work closely with doctors, consultants and non-clinical departments at Fortis to provide holistic and therapeutic interventions to patients at home.

Commenting on the tie-up, Samara Mahindra, CEO & Founder of Carer said “This partnership with Fortis enables us to reach out to a wider and concentrated group of patients and caregivers who are looking for a holistic approach to treating cancer. When a reputed hospital chain like Fortis advocates a patient-centric approach in treating cancer,  it creates a paradigm shift in the field of cancer care. This tie-up further strengthens our effort in making integrative cancer care as a part of mainstream treatment."

Speaking about the partnership, Dr. Manish Mattoo, Zonal Director, Fortis Hospitals, Bangalore “The Carer protocol has the potential to add great value in the recovery of a cancer patient. Today, a number of cancer cases are predominantly lifestyle-related.  Integrated cancer care synchronises medical treatment with lifestyle management by treating the condition with allopathy complemented by nutrition therapy, yoga, movement, and mental wellbeing. Carer’s holistic approach will help in the successful and effective integration of conventional treatment and lifestyle management in treating cancer patients"

Currently, Carer has tied up with 7 major hospital groups in South India. In the next one year, Carer plans to partner with 10+ hospitals across India.

About Carer

Carer is India’s first integrative oncology startup that provides personalized cancer care to patients.  Started by Samara Mahindra in 2018, Carer provides integrative therapy and treatment to help patients heal better, feel better and live better during and after cancer treatment.

Unlike in the west, cancer treatment in India focuses on medication alone, ignoring lifestyle changes that could prevent  relapse. This stems from lack of awareness of integrative oncology that looks beyond medication and focuses on nutrition, yoga, meditation and physiological interventions that improve patient outcomes and relieve side effects of standard treatments. Carer’s integrative therapy and treatment are based on globally recognised non-clinical therapies originally created and established by top cancer hospitals like Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre and MD Anderson.

The Carer Protocol focuses on three primary aspects of the patient’s condition – ensure decrease in side effects, manage the treatment better, improve immunity and quality of life. It is recommended to patients during their treatment phase and continues till recovery and remission. The program goes along with the treatment regimen and is recommended at the diagnosis stage. However, regardless of the stage at which the protocol has begun, results show substantial improvement in the patient - even those that are terminally ill.

Website: https://www.carerforcancer.com/

About Fortis Healthcare Limited   

Fortis Healthcare Limited is a leading integrated healthcare delivery service provider in India. The healthcare verticals of the company primarily comprise hospitals, diagnostics and daycare specialty facilities. Currently, the company operates its healthcare delivery services in India, Dubai and Sri Lanka with 43 healthcare facilities (including projects under development), approximately 9,000 potential beds and over 400 diagnostics centres.

McDonald’s relaunches online food ordering service ‘McDelivery™ with exclusive deals in North and East India

Customers can now order their favorite items from McDonald’s menu* online at www.mcdeliveryonline.com or download the McDelivery™ app (North and East) from the App Store or Google Play or by scanning the QR code 

McDonald’s has relaunched the popular online food ordering service ‘McDeliveryTM’. Customers now have the convenience of ordering their favorite food items from McDonald’s menu through McDeliveryTM app and website. The relaunch of online ordering platforms in North and East India has added a new dimension of convenience to McDonald’s core of serving great tasting food to the customers every day.



“We are happy to restart McDelivery™ online services and we look forward to serving our customers great-tasting food, in the comfort of their homes and offices. We are committed to delivering on our core commitments of Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value, while exceeding our customers’ expectations every time they order from us,” said, Robert Hunghanfoo, Head of Connaught Plaza Restaurants Private Limited (CPRL).

To add to the customer’s delight, McDonald’s is offering a free McAloo Tikki™ Burger on online orders worth INR 300 or more ***.

Currently, McDelivery™ services are available through select restaurants in North and East India****.

Connaught Plaza Restaurants Private Limited (CPRL) is wholly owned by McDonald’s and operates McDonald’s restaurants in North and East India.

About McDonald’s:

McDonald’s is the world’s leading global foodservice retailer with about 38,000 locations in over 100 countries. Approximately 93% of McDonald’s restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local business men and women.

*Except for some items that cannot be delivered, most of our menu is available, please check the menu option on the website.

**McDelivery™ hours vary from restaurant to restaurant.

*** Limited period offer, valid till October 31, 2019; Order value exclusive of delivery charges and applicable taxes

****McDelivery™ services are currently available in select locations/cities in North and East India including Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida, Chandigarh, Jalandhar; and in select areas in the city of Kolkata.

Goa based Synapse and ScreenRoot Win India’s Best Design Studio Awards

Business-storytelling firm Synapse Communication Design Private Limited, and Interaction Design firm ScreenRoot Technologies Limited secured two of the most prestigious awards at India’s Best Design Awards 2019 by POOL Magazine.

Synapse won as India’s Best Graphic Design Studio while ScreenRoot bagged the India’s Best Digital Studio award. These awards were previously won by companies like Tata Elxsi, Lopez Design and Fractal Ink.

[caption id="attachment_135782" align="aligncenter" width="309"] Shyam Bandekar - Head of Design, Synapse and Don Paul Mathew - Head of UX Design, ScreenRoot[/caption]

Synapse showcased projects done for their clients including SAP, Gabon Special Economic Zone (GSEZ), India’s biggest B2B e-commerce player - mjunction, and Kotak Life Insurance among others.

ScreenRoot was recognized as the best digital studio for creating a web-based investing and trading platform for Edelweiss, designing India’s most popular retail banking mobile app for ICICI Bank, and a remote teleconsultation-enabled web presence for Medanta Hospitals to name a few.

“Everyone knows good creative work is location-agnostic. But few are aware that nationally competitive design and creative firms are based in Goa. We are happy that both our firms have been recognized as winners in their respective genres,” said Tanmay Modi, CEO - Synapse and Managing Director - ScreenRoot.

In its 5th edition, India’s Best Design Awards 2019 were held in Pune on the 28th of September. An initiative by the POOL magazine, the 20-member strong international jury included Prof. GV Sreekumar, Head of IDC School of Design, IIT-Bombay, Prof. S Balaram, former Chairman, National Institute of Design and Nandita Abraham, President, Pearl Academy among others.

About Synapse

Synapse Communication Design Private Limited is a creative communication and design firm based in Goa. Agnostic to media and industries, Synapse partners with businesses to craft memorable stories across all online and offline touchpoints. Clientele include Kotak Life Insurance, L&T Infotech, Mahindra Group and others.

About ScreenRoot

ScreenRoot is a top-tier interaction design firm and specializes in designing screen-based interfaces for digital products. Screenroot has partnered with enterprise clients including ICICI Bank, Edelweiss, Tata Capital and TCS among others.

About India’s Best Design Awards

Instituted by POOL Magazine in 2015, "India’s Best Design Awards" are the first to recognize Design Studios for their professional work, business practices and transparency. INDI Design started publishing POOL Magazine in 2010 with the mission of bringing Indian talent in Design, Innovation, and Art into the limelight.

CropIn hosts AgriInnovation Summit 2019 for Agritech led Fintech & Insurtech for the Next Billion

CropIn, a leading Artificial Intelligence and data-led agri-tech​ organization that provides SaaS solutions to agribusinesses globally, today hosted ‘The Agri-Innovation Summit’ 2019 in Mumbai. The event witnessed the presence of Shri. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Chief Executive Officer, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, and  Mr.Arindom Datta, Executive Director of Rural & Development Banking, Rabobank along with Mr.Krishna Kumar, CEO of CropIn.

CropIn being the leading AI and data-led agri-tech​ organization, enables the clients to analyze and interpret data to derive real-time actionable insights on standing crops and projects spanning geographies, thereby enabling the business to utilize technology to effectively drive their initiatives around digitization, predictability, compliance, sustainability, and traceability.

CropIn has digitized over 5.5 million acres of farmland and enriched the lives of nearly 2.1 million farmers, while gathering data on over 300+ crops and 3,500+ crop varieties in over 46+ countries. The SaaS solutions offered by CropIn are crop and location agnostic, and are available on the web and mobile devices.

“The government of India has taken the initiative to migrate totally to technology based yield assessment. Climate change is already a reality and it has to be addressed in terms of agriculture. We have to find a robust technology to solve this and there is a need to address these issues through technology as farmers are coming out of agriculture. There is a need for us to rise and find abetter solutions to solve the agricultural issues,” said Ashish Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. 

“Agri-Technology has served as an enabler for improvement in agribusinesses and helped the entire ecosystem with traceability and predictability. The biggest challenge is to understand the amount of harvest is going to come up. Climatic change has been a big concern for us. If we look globally, the number of young farmers have reduced in last one decade. Agriculture consumes around 75% of the freshwater. We are not able to fund more than 50% of Ag-credit needs. The rise in temperature is bringing down the food production globally and we need trillions of investment to fix the problem of the irrigation. It has to be an ecosystem approach and data driven platform that can bring down the challenges seen in agricultural ecosystem,”  said Mr. Kumar, CEO of CropIn.

CropIn has introduced cutting-edge technologies like - Big-data analytics, artificial intelligence, and remote sensing to provide different insights across the value chain and help the management to make smarter decisions. The vision is to maximize per acre value and make every farm traceable. CropIn aims to add value by increasing efficiency, scaling productivity and strengthening sustainability across the board.

At the turn of the century, agriculture has become an industry with maximum potential and impact that would be a gateway of opportunities for inclusion of various stakeholders within and around the ecosystem, wherein agriculture has become the guiding pillar for economic transformation in the country, representing a space where innovation can serve the marginalized in diverse ways. A widely evolving technological landscape is an outset of new possibilities to target and price credit, to share the risk, and to harness information technology to expand agricultural productivity, which generates both welfare and regional economic integration as it contributes to over 15% of the overall economy (GDP), which determines the standard of living for more than 60% of the population. At the same time, many obstacles are not IT-enabled, so it is important to look for strategic places where policy and investment can help to improve outcomes for agricultural households.

This sector with the aid of digital inclusion has transformed the entire value chain of agribusinesses. The rapid advancements in AI/ML are facilitating intelligent food production and the development of new business models. As a result, the agri ecosystem will be more productive, efficient, sustainable, inclusive, transparent, and resilient. The use of new technology is necessary to move India’s agriculture to a more productive path.

CropIn is a leading full-stack agri-tech​ organization that provides SaaS solutions to agribusinesses globally. CropIn’s unique suite of products enables various stakeholders in the agri-ecosystem, including the farmer, to adopt and drive digital strategy across their operations.

Using cutting-edge technology like big-data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and remote sensing, CropIn creates an interconnected network of all these stakeholders at different levels of the agriculture ecosystem, enabling clients to analyze and interpret data to derive real-time actionable insights on standing crop. Businesses can thus leverage technology to effectively drive their initiatives around Digitization, Compliance, Sustainability and Traceability.

With the vision to ‘maximize per acre value’ and the mission to ‘make every farm traceable’, CropIn adds value to agri-businesses by increasing efficiency, scaling productivity, and strengthening sustainability across the board. Thus far, CropIn has digitized over 5.5 million acres of farmland and enriched the lives of nearly 2.1 million farmers, while gathering data on 384 crops and 3,662 crop varieties in over 46+ countries. The SaaS solutions offered by CropIn are crop and location agnostic, and are available on the Web and mobile devices.

NASA names An Asteroid after Indian Legendary Singer Pandit Jasraj

An Asteroid aka minor planet bearing the alphanumeric name 2006VP32 (number 300128), discovered in November in 2006, has been christened 'Panditjasraj' after Indian legendary classical singer Pandit Jasraj. The number assigned to the asteroid, 300128, is Pandit Jasraj's birth date in reverse.

The announcement was made by the US space agency NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on September 23. "Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj is an exponent of Indian classical vocal music... His distinctive voice traverses a remarkable four-and-a-half octaves," NASA mentioned.

The naming of the asteroid has been approved by International Astronomical Union (IAU).

The asteroid, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in a region called the asteroid main belt, was discovered in 2006 by the Mount Lemmom Observatory in Arizona. It is estimated that millions of irregular and spherical objects of varying sizes, called either asteroids or minor planets, can be found in this region.

Panditjasraj - a Minor #PLANET

Pandit Jasraj has been bestowed with a surreal, rare & a Universal honour from International Astronomical Union @IAU_org
Minor Planet 2006 VP32 (No. 300128) discovered on 11th November 2006 has been named as ‘Panditjasraj’ pic.twitter.com/HcqbnRXFZs

— Pandit Jasraj Fans (@ptjasrajfans) September 29, 2019

Notably, as of September'19, there are 5,41,131 numbered asteroids of a total of 7,97,078 observed bodies, with the rest being unnumbered minor planets.

Pandit Jasraj is the first Indian classical musician to be bestowed with such honour. Other classical musicians to have /asteroids/minor planets named after them include Mozart, Beethoven and Luciano Pavarotti.

Born in 1930 in British Punjab, Pandit Jasraj is associated with the Mewati gharana of Hindustani classical music. He has received honours like the Padma Vibhushan and Sangeet Natak Academi Award, and is known for being a mentor to many well-known musicians.

Meanwhile, Scientists of India's Public Outreach and Education Committee of Astronomical Society of India (ASI-POEC) were unaware of the development, and said neither did IAU officially approach Indian Astronomical community to seek any inputs nor this process bestows any unique honour, reported Hindustan Times.

“IUA gives away the rights to name non-interesting minor planets to a clutch of private companies, largely 10 years after they are discovered, where individuals can name these astronomical bodies at a cost. In this case, there’s 90% chance that a fan named the minor planet after Pandit Jasraj for a price," said Aniket Sule, Chair, ASI-POEC to Hindustan Times.

Via ~ The Hindu

Used Cars Marketplace Spinny Raises $50 Mn from US-based Investors, Fundamentum

Gurgaon-based Valuedrive Technologies, which owns and operates used car buying & selling platform Spinny, has raised about $50 million in a Series B round led by a US-based investor and Fundamentum, a growth capital fund by Infosys Co-founder Nandan Nilekani, reported Entrackr, citing three sources aware with details of the transaction of fundraise.

Some new investors from India also participated in the round.

Spinny's existing investors SAIF Partners and Accel Partners have also participated in the round on a pro-rata basis i.e. on the basis of the number of shares already held by each shareholder.

With this latest round of funding, which is yet to be officially confirmed, Spinny has raised a total of $68 million in funding over 4 rounds to date.

In June this year, Spinny had raised $13.2 million (about Rs 92 crore), from SAIF Partners and Accel Partners, in which India's largest angel network Indian Angel Network, had successfully received full exit from the startup.

Founded in 2015, by Mohit Gupta, Niraj Singh and Ramanshu Mahaur, Spinny is a tech powered new age used car buying platform where customers can shortlist a car of their choice from its online platform, and then can visit Spinny's physical car hubs for a no obligation test drive.

Within a year of its launch, Spinny has had acquired HopCar.in, an another startup in the same industry, in June 2016.

Philips Ships 2-Millionth AED, Helping to Save Lives Across the Globe

Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology, has announced the shipment of its two-millionth AED (Automated External Defibrillator). This achievement marks a major milestone in Philips’ continued efforts to combat sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), reaffirming the company’s commitment to providing empowered heart care across the health continuum. Cardiac arrests can happen anywhere, at any time, and bystander intervention and treatment with an AED has been shown to increase the survival rate by three times.

Commenting on the achievement, Rohit Sathe, President – Philips Healthcare, Indian Subcontinent said, “We are proud to reach the incredible milestone of the shipment of Philips two-millionth AED. The event is a testimony of Philips’ more than 20-year legacy of cardiac resuscitation innovations to combat the potentially fatal effects of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). As the leader in AEDs, Philips is committed to doing everything we can to help survive a sudden cardiac arrest, which is why we design our AEDs to be rugged, lightweight and durable, featuring clear audio instructions for both guided use and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) guidance.”

Despite the widespread availability of AEDs today, people are not quite aware of AEDs, don’t know how easy they are to use and may still hesitate to intervene when someone is experiencing an SCA. Immediate defibrillation is the one and only way to save a person’s life in such cases. Philips aims to raise awareness around cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and cardiac events while showcasing the user-friendliness and importance of AEDs besides encouraging people to take personal responsibility for leading heart-healthy lives.

According to a recent study of Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) conducted in 21 countries across five continents, CVD continues to be one of the leading causes of death across the world. In India, however CVD is still the top killer, with death three times more frequent than that due to cancer[1]. As a leader in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, Philips offers a comprehensive range of cardiology technology, workflow solutions and services that enable connected care across the health continuum. The company’s unique and strong portfolio of systems, smart devices, software and services in image-guided therapy, combine to offer healthcare providers with sophisticated, procedure-oriented solutions in cardiology.

Earlier this year, Philips and the American Heart Association announced a collaboration on Connected Pulse Program to increase sudden cardiac arrest survival rates in densely populated cities. The Connected Pulse program leverages a unique end-to-end solution combining education programs to increase awareness of CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation), the use of publicly available AEDs, and new technologies to strengthen the ‘chain of survival’ from the moment an incident occurs to the patient reaching the hospital. Philips is committed to utilize learnings from this programme to drive awareness around CVD in India.

A pioneer in AED innovation and reliability

Philips’ HeartStart OnSite & Heartstart FRx made the implementation of early AED programs in communities, schools and businesses much easier. The Philips HeartStart AEDs provides real-time guidance through simple, step-by-step voice commands, an audible metronome and CPR coaching to help guide the treatment of a suspected sudden cardiac arrest. With easy set-up, clear voice prompts, and rugged design, these AEDs are designed to be used with minimal or no prior training.

Philips was also the first to introduce an AED for pediatric use and was a pioneer in providing AEDs for use in airplanes. Today, Philips AEDs are available across the globe, on board major airlines, airports, in major hotels, in Fortune 100 companies, and in the locker rooms of professional sports teams worldwide.

More information on Philips’ portfolio of AEDs and the two-millionth AED milestone is available here


~ Business Wire India

Healthcare BPO Firm emids Announces Investment from New Mountain Capital

emids, a leader in digital engineering and transformation solutions to the healthcare industry, today announced it has partnered with New Mountain Capital, a leading growth-oriented investment firm with over $20 billion in assets under management. As part of the transaction, emids management and other select stakeholders will remain invested in the Company, while current investors Baird Capital and Council Capital are exiting. The investment by New Mountain sets the stage for the continued accelerating growth of emids as the healthcare industry’s preferred partner for digital transformation.

Founded in 1999, and headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee (with offices in Hyderabad and Bangalore in India), emids partners with health technology companies, payers, providers, and life science firms to accelerate the adoption of next-generation digital technologies and manage an increasingly complex data ecosystem to drive high quality, accessible, and affordable healthcare. The Company provides digital transformation, clinical data engineering, custom software development, data analytics and integration, and strategic advisory consulting services nationwide.

“Healthcare, as an industry, is just beginning to tap the true potential of data and advanced technology to improve the care lifecycle experience, and we are thrilled to have such a successful and like-minded investor as New Mountain join us on this next stage of our journey,” said emids founder and CEO Saurabh Sinha. “Baird Capital and Council Capital have been fantastic partners, and we look forward to continuing to build and make growth investments in talent, scale, and intellectual property."

“emids is a true leader in digital transformation, clinical data engineering, and data analytics to the healthcare sector,” said Matt Holt, Managing Director and Deputy Head of Private Equity at New Mountain Capital. “This partnership is the result of our continued efforts to identify and back innovative platforms that enable healthcare stakeholders to meet the rapidly changing needs of a digital world."

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Saurabh and the emids management team,” said Jack Qian, Managing Director at New Mountain. “We look forward to supporting the Company’s continued growth by identifying both organic and inorganic initiatives to help the Company realize its full potential.”

Baird Capital Partner Jim Pavlik complimented emids’ unrelenting focus on customer service and quality during its rapid expansion: “We’ve witnessed the emids commitment to keep its customers front and center. It’s a differentiator and key ingredient in their success.”

“We’re pleased to have been able to successfully leverage the Council Model to partner with the emids management team with our deep bench of industry and functional experts, as well as facilitate new customer relationships,” said Council Capital Managing Partner Grant Jackson. “We wish Saurabh and his team much continued success in this next phase of their growth.”

Credit Suisse served as exclusive financial advisor and DLA Piper LLP as legal counsel to emids in this transaction. Ropes & Gray LLP provided legal counsel to New Mountain.

About emids

emids is a specialist provider of digital solutions and services to the healthcare industry, serving payers, providers, life sciences, and technology firms. Headquartered in Nashville, emids helps bridge critical gaps in providing accessible, affordable, and high-quality healthcare by providing digital transformation services, custom application development and testing, data engineering, business intelligence solutions, and specialized consulting services to all parts of the healthcare ecosystem. With over 1,800 professionals globally, emids leverages strong domain expertise in healthcare-specific platforms, regulations, and standards to provide tailored, cutting-edge solutions and services to its clients.

About New Mountain Capital

New Mountain Capital is a New York-based investment firm that emphasizes business building and growth, rather than debt, as it pursues long-term capital appreciation. The firm currently manages private equity, public equity, and credit funds with over $20 billion in assets under management. New Mountain seeks out what it believes to be the highest quality growth leaders in carefully selected industry sectors and then works intensively with management to build the value of these companies.

Suresh Chitturi to be 1st Asian to Chair the International Egg Commission (IEC)

Suresh Chitturi, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Srinivasa Farms, has been appointed as Chairman of International Egg Commission on 26th September at the IEC Global Leadership Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Suresh will be the first chair from Asia in the history of the institution, as he assumes the role as the Chairman of IEC. He will hold the position for the next two years. His work has been recognized at a global level as he is engaged in advocacy for the poultry industry, internationally and his election into this coveted position is a proof of that.

Suresh Chitturi, leads Srinivasa Farms, a dominant force in the Indian Poultry Industry. Srinivasa is recognized as one of the builders of the Indian Poultry Industry in the last 50years. After assuming leadership, Suresh steered Srinivasa to achieve sustainably high growth through expansion and diversification. Srinivasa is currently involved in Chicken Breeding, Chicken & Egg Processing, Feed Manufacturing and also Soya Oil Extraction and Processing.

[caption id="attachment_135707" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Tim Lambert & Surresh Chitturi[/caption]

Suresh’s work has led to the company being recognized for always doing what is best for the individual farmers, industry and India. Adopting a farmer first philosophy, he is passionate about ensuring that the poultry industry is healthy and sustainable through adoption of latest technologies, good rearing practices and welfare of the livestock. Suresh is helping the Poultry industry to be more sustainable and responsible in its production and sourcing.

[caption id="attachment_135708" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Tim Lambert & Surresh Chitturi[/caption]

About IEC

The International Egg Commission is the global network for the egg industry. It has members in over 80 countries around the world. It was established at the second International Egg Conference in Bologna, Italy, in 1964.

The London, UK-based commission has a number of goals. Among these are the fostering of international cooperation among all sectors of the egg industry, encouraging the development of better statistics and market intelligence for shell eggs and egg products, and collecting and publishing such data, and encouraging the harmonization internationally of marketing standards for shell eggs and egg products.

The IEC in fact, is the only organization that represents the global egg industry. As the global voice of the egg industry, the IEC has the responsibility to discuss industry issues as well as to maintain links with other international organizations.

The IEC is able to act as a communication link between industry and international regulators / decision makers, and therefore takes positions on a range of issues.

IEC established International Egg Foundation (IEF) in 2014 to work as an independent charitable foundation.

The IEF’s goals are to help implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and increase egg production and egg consumption in underdeveloped countries to provide undernourished infants, children and families with an independent, sustainable, high-quality protein supply. To achieve these goals, the IEF works alongside the world’s largest and most effective charitable foundations and with the world’s largest egg businesses to help ensure high-quality protein is accessible to everybody no matter who they are or where they come from.

This Is Why Online Term Insurance Is a Perfect Choice for You

The fast-paced life has led us to walk on the threshold of life and death. It is difficult to predict what will happen and when. To overcome the uncertainty of meeting any unfortunate event and to avoiding financial crisis likely to happen, one needs a contingency plan. This is where buying a life insurance policy has become a necessity nowadays.

Traditionally, purchasing any insurance policy was trouble. You all the way had to meet an agent and decide upon the right policy. Furthermore, filling the application form to buying the plan was another concern. Again, it may lead to misselling the policy if the agent doesn’t understand your needs properly. The agent may recommend something else which is inappropriate for your needs.

Choosing the policy on your own and buying it is always the better option. Online term plans can be purchased by reading the terms by yourself. Hence, due to the increasing demand for online insurance plans, many insurance companies have introduced their term insurance plans online.

Understand What a Term Insurance Policy Is

Term life insurance is one of the most popular plans, which comes at a lower cost and offers greater benefits. Term insurance plans can be availed for a particular duration and offer only death benefit to the life insured. If the policyholder survives the tenure, the survival or maturity benefits are not paid. This is the reason why term plans are less expensive than cash value policies.

Term life insurance is the best way to secure your family’s future financially as it comes with comparatively lower premiums and excellent life cover. Though it is not a cash value plan, term plans have a huge demand in the market. If you are in the early stages of your life and possess several financial responsibilities, term plan helps you a lot. A cash value plan offers maturity benefits but comes with larger premiums. Such higher premiums are not affordable for those people who are standing on the threshold of their life and career.

How Does Online Term Plan Differ from Offline Buying?

The world has become tech-savvy; the internet has boosted the e-commerce, and insurance is not an exception to this. Almost every insurer offers term insurance plans online. However, most of the people prefer the offline way of purchasing the policy because somehow they don’t find the online way secure. Here are some facts about online and offline

Dealing Directly with the Brand

When you buy term life insurance through an agent, you just follow the instructions and information given by a third person. It is not the case of dealing directly with the insurance company. Whereas, in the online method, you buy term plan from insurer’s website; hence, the communication takes place between you and the company. Nowadays, several aggregators offer insurances, but again the insurance company controls the aggregators, and ultimately you deal with the insurer himself.

Premium Rates

It can be observed that buying a term plan through an agent is quite costly. The agent explains you several plans as well as he does all the paperwork when you choose a term plan to buy. Therefore, the commission of the agent and other costs are incurred in the premiums. This is not the case when you buy term insurance online. All the commissions, distribution, and paperwork costs are saved; hence, the premium rates are considerably low.

Claim Settlement Ratio

Claim settlement ratio is a parameter to determine the number of claims paid by the insurance company against the claims made by the nominees of the life insured. It may happen that the agent would not disclose all the information regarding the term plans, subject to his interests or by any other reason such as inadequate information. On the other hand, you can check the claim settlement ratio on the insurer’s or aggregator websites, and decide which insurance company you should go with.

Instant Payment

The payment can instantly be made when you buy term insurance online. In case of an offline process, the agent would take either a cheque or cash from you, which will lead to a more protracted process further.

Finding Appropriate Plan

An agent may misinterpret your requirements and sell the wrong insurance plan. But while purchasing the term plan online, you can compare several plans, and according to your requirements, you can choose the right plan.

There are numerous advantages of buying term insurance plans online such as you get to know the exact product, life cover, claim settlement ratio, secure and fast payments, and most important at lesser premiums. But to get the right plan, you need to analyse which plan suits you the best. Here is the solution for it-

Term Insurance Premium Calculator

The term insurance market is cluttered, and you need to be very careful while choosing the term plan. To help you get a suitable term insurance policy, many insurance companies and aggregator websites have introduced term insurance premium calculators. It is nothing but a toolkit that gives relevant results that suit your needs best. Following are the advantages of Term Insurance Premium Calculator.

Simple Operations

Term insurance premium calculators are easy to use. You get all the necessary information regarding the desired term policy by just filling the required fields. The data may be premiums, policy tenure or the duration, or payout options.

Compare and Analyse

Term insurance premium calculator provides several term plan options from which you can decide which plan is best suited for you. You can compare different plans based on the parameters like premium amount, the sum assured, payout policy and all.

Sum Assured

Opting for the plan with less coverage may lead to compromising on the lifestyle of your loved ones. Similarly, abundant cover may lead to extra and unnecessary costs regarding premiums. With the help of term insurance premium calculator, you can determine the appropriate sum assured for you.

Customisation

You get different values by changing specific details such as, by changing the desired life cover and tenure, you get different premium amounts.

Understanding the Product

Different suggestions made by term insurance premium calculator help you know the product in a better way. This helps you in making the right decision.

Now that we have seen how term insurance premium calculator is a perfect tool that helps you opt for the best term plan let’s see what the steps to use it are.

Steps to Use the Term Plan Premium Calculator

The entire process of using the term plan premium calculator, and finding some ideal quotes will take a maximum of 15 minutes.

• Firstly, you need to feed the required personal information such as your gender, date of birth, annual income, marital status, number of dependents, expected life cover, and so on. Sometimes, the insurer may ask you about your smoking/drinking habits. After submitting the first form, you will be redirected towards the new page.


• Secondly, you will be asked about your desired sum assured. Similarly, you have to disclose how long the life cover is needed. The type of payout is requested, such as how the benefits would be paid to the beneficiaries, e.g. as monthly income or lump-sum one-time amount. After filling all the required fields, you need to hit the CTA and wait for results.


• Finally, the term plan premium calculator gives you some suitable options for your requirements, by analysing all the information you have provided earlier. Here, you have to compare systematically between several term plans available. Once you choose the desired plan, you can continue to buy the plan.

It is always advised to figure out the things precisely. The results provided by the term plan premium calculator are dependent on the inputs you provide. Thus, to avoid any ambiguities after purchasing the inappropriate plan, use the term plan premium calculator and compare multiple plans and choose the right one. Opt for the plan that meets all your expectations, by just following the three steps given above.

Conclusion

To conclude, term insurance is the best suitable way to secure the financial future of your family behind you. Term plan calculators help you get the best suitable online term plan, and ultimately safeguarding your loved ones financially, with an adequate amount. Most importantly, all this can be done online, within a few minutes! So, why to wait for? If you haven’t purchased any term insurance plan, get it today!

Wellcurve.in, India's First Integrated Platform for Healthier Nutritional Choices and Information Goes Live

To meet the fast-growing need for high quality, healthier food and nutrition items, Wellcurve.in, India’s first integrated platform of leading brands, products and information have unveiled its online showroom, offering nutrition alternatives for a simplified healthier lifestyle.

Wellcurve’s tagline ‘Healthier Lifestyle Simplified’ encapsulates its two-fold mission. For the consumer, it brings together both relevant insights for your nutritional needs and selected products from a curated set of brands. For the brands, it offers an opportunity to connect with the right audience and reach out to the consumer looking for healthier choices.

Wellcurve.in is the brainchild of Nikhil Mehra, who has had an excellent journey across the Banking and Fashion Retail space, building hugely successful key account relationships.

Speaking about how Wellcurve.in will meet the expectations of the health-conscious, cognizant consumer, Nikhil Mehra, founder and CEO, Wellcurve said, “The old adage that health is wealth, is gaining momentum again. All of us want to make healthier lifestyle choices as nothing can be achieved with a body that does not perform to the best of its ability. There is no greater luxury than 'luxury within' hence investing in it is the most crucial choice one can make in life. Keeping this philosophy in mind, we started this online platform, which is a curation of the best brands in the nutrition space. A one-stop solution for our clients.”

The journey of Wellcurve.in has begun with 17 brands including Mom’s Love, Poshtick, Mojorbar, Yogabar amongst others, and will soon expand to over 60 brands in the next few weeks. Over 250 carefully curated products are spread across some of the popular categories, which include Breakfast, Snacks, and essential Staples.

Moreover, to make it simple and easy for consumers to search for products, Wellcurve products are categorized as per health goals such as Weight Loss, Improve Digestion, Increase Protein Intake, Boost Immunity/Energy and more. Another interesting category classification is as per trends with Vegan, Keto, Organic, and Gluten-free, which makes it very easy for the visitor to search for products as per diet preferences. The platform has a regularly updated, informative blog that provides useful nutrition-related information. Tips for healthier living are offered under “Did You Know” snippets, interspersing the product showcase that makes it very interesting for the user to browse Wellcurve.

The platform will continue to add to its list of curated offerings. Wellcurve.in has already received keen interest from some High Networth family offices.'

About Nikhil Mehra



A Chartered Accountant by education, a member of the Young Presidents Organisation (YPO) and also currently enrolled as part of the Owner/President Management (OPM) program at Harvard Business School, Nikhil Mehra is ready to take on the health space. With significant insights into the behavior of the Indian consumer, Nikhil taps in with his new venture, Wellcurve.in.

Nikhil Mehra’s journey across Banking and Fashion Retail speak a similar story. He builds hugely successful key account relationships, grows these into win-win partnerships, and runs seamless operations teams to deliver the promise. Thinking strategic and new business at all times is at the core.

Genesis under his captaincy was built into India’s largest brand partner for Luxury Fashion & Apparel brands, becoming the partner of choice for the world’s top brands, from Burberry, Armani, to Hugo Boss, Jimmy Choo amongst others.

About Wellcurve.in

Wellcurve.in, India’s first integrated platform of leading brands, products, and information. The platform aims at supporting nutrition with information, to tell you things as they are so you can make an informed choice. Wellcurve offers a large range of handpicked, curated products, vetted for their benefits, and shipped to your home. The platform takes pride in being responsible for the highest product quality.

India Accelerator and Startup Buddy Joins Hands for its Winter Cohort Accelerator Program

India Accelerator, a seed-stage Accelerator and the only GAN-partnered accelerator in India, in association with Startup Buddy, is now inviting applications for its winter cohort programme from across the country.

The program provides focused support to entrepreneurs through an environment that helps them focus on their products and expand their market outreach, supports the acquisition of business knowledge, facilitates the raising of necessary finance, introduces the entrepreneurs to business networks, all of which substantially reduce the level of failure.

Providing “cash, competency, connects” and a hands-on learning experience in both Indian and international markets, the accelerator welcomes good ideas from across sectors and domains.

Startups wishing to receive acceleration benefits have until 31st October to https://www.indiaaccelerator.co/accelerator/programs/

According to the accelerator’s website, applying early may increase chances of selection.

Mona Singh, Co-Founder, India Accelerator said “This exclusive program will help IA’s Startups to move beyond the startup phase by equipping them with the knowledge, tools, and connections needed for their next stage of growth. Focus is on serious acceleration & the program is designed to support and navigate startups through the process of operationally scaling their business while generating meaningful relationships with IA Partners, mentors, and investors. Successful Founders & Corporate CXOs from across the Community spread across the Globe will be the primary mentors for the program.”

Amit Singal, CEO, Startup Buddy said "I am excited with Partnership of Startup Buddy with India Accelerator for Winter 2019 Cohort. Joint efforts by two established Organisation in the field will give more power to the Program"

About India Accelerator:

India Accelerator (IA) is a seed-stage accelerator program that offers four months of rigorous guidance, funding, mentoring, business and technology services support and sources from mentors, partners and investors. IA takes early stage technology-based startups and help them rapidly build a sustainable business. What differentiates IA from other programs is its unrelenting focus on growth, on de-risking the assumptions, on helping companies prioritize their customers and product. The philosophy is that if the customers and product are taken care of, everything else will fall in place. It is the ONLY GAN partnered, mentorship-driven, program in India.

About Startup Buddy:

Startup Buddy is a one-stop shop offering end-to-end solutions of financial and startup advisory services, supporting, investing and helping startups raise funds through its network.

Are Online Casinos the Next Big Thing?

The past few years, many countries have passed legislation permitting and regulating online gambling within their jurisdictions. These include the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Spain New Jersey, Philadelphia, and more. Still more are still debating the possibility, and the coming years, many more countries and states are set to follow. Other jurisdictions, such as Malta and the UK, have a long history of licenced online casinos and betting platforms. Licenced gambling means more revenue for the state and more protection for the players.

The legal state of gambling in India

The situation of online gambling is still rather unclear for most Indian players. Gambling is prohibited in most of India, with the exception of a few casinos in certain states and state owned lotteries. However, the law currently makes no stipulations on online gambling. This means that Indian players are technically not breaking any law, provided they play on offshore online casinos. In fact, the Indian court declined a request to block all online gambling sites during the Cricket World Cup. Most online casinos are run from the UK, Malta or Curacao.

Why we will only see more Indian players in online casinos

While online casino is still not regulated in India, India has become a booming market for online operators of various games of chance as well as sports betting. With an ever-growing population of 1.3 billion, increased internet coverage and more disposable income per capita, and an already existing gambling culture, it is easy to see why India is set to become a huge growth market for online betting.

More young players

The fact that India has such a young population is also a factor. 65% of Indians are under the age of 35 and 50% are younger than 25. These youngsters have no issue joining an online betting site, where they bet on cricket, kabaddi, but also popular sporting events such as the Champions League or European football teams. Horse racing is also becoming popular for youthful bettors.

More technology and better internet

The distribution of technology and increasing wealth is another factor. Smartphones are available for a wider section of then population, while the country’s mobile networks are slowly getting better. Broadband and mobile internet are becoming widespread in a country that is slowly increasing its wealth.

More wealth

The income per capita has grown by 8.6%. More wealth means more disposable income. That income can be used for luxury items, but also for playing games online. More weath also means more free time, time that can be spent on various pastimes.

Better payment methods

The last factor we will discuss payment methods. While most banks in India do not accept transfers from online casinos, a wealth of alternative methods are springing up. E-wallets such as Neteller or Skrill are very popular. These are fast and easy ways to transfer money. However, they charge fees, which eat part of the profits of casino and player alike. This is why many Indian players are turning to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. These blockchain methods are safe, reliable, and do not charge any fees. They have the added benefit that they are not taxable, and completely anonymous.

For more information on online casinos, visit OnlineGamblingGuru.com

Healofy awarded as India’s Greatest Brand 2018-2019 in Healthcare Industry

Healofy, India’s largest and fastest growing Women Social Network has announced that it has been awarded India’s greatest Brand 2018-2019 in Women and Child care category by Asia One’s India’s greatest Brand and Leaders 2018- 2019 event held at Taj Lands End hotel in September 2019 in Mumbai. The award function was attended by Minister of State for social justice and empowerment, Ramdas Athawale and over 500+ business leaders, investors and dignitaries from Asia.

The founders of the company, Gaurav Aggrawal and Shubham Maheshwari have also been felicitated with 40 most influential Indians under 40 2018-2019 by India’s greatest Brand and Leaders 2018- 2019 for their contribution to the society. Both the founders are also the proud recipients of Forbes 30 under 30 Asia. Healofy was selected for FbStart programme by Facebook in 2017.

Healofy connects millions of women across different stages of life right from getting married to becoming a mother and beyond. It started as a pregnancy and parenting community in September 2016. Since then, the platform has been expanding to cater to 100 million+ women in different stages of life who are smartphones users in tier 2,3 cities through quality content across regional languages. Healofy was founded by Gaurav Aggarwal and Shubham Maheshwari, alumni of IIT Guwahati and NIT Warangal

Through Healofy, Indian women can access credible content through a trusted community model in 9 Indian Languages - English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam. Healofy connects these women by different interest areas that they want to pursue such as earning from home, learning different skill sets, fashion, fitness, lifestyle, etc.

Healofy has successfully created a strong community of over 500,000 Daily Active Users (DAUs) and 1 million monthly active users on their Android app exhibiting strong engagement and retention.

The company also plans to catalyze network e-commerce by helping women from the smaller cities & towns to transact online. The aim is to map the entire offline experience of women (be it networking, shopping) in the online world.

In March 2019, Healofy raised $8M in Series A from BabyTree Group (01761.HK, China’s Largest Parenting Platform, a Public company), BAce Capital, a fund anchored by Alibaba’s Ant Financial Services Group and existing investor Omidyar Network India.

Healofy is India’s Largest Women Social Network where we connect millions of women across different stages of life right from getting married to becoming a mother and beyond.

Today, there is a lack of quality content in regional languages for 100 million+ women in tier 2,3 cities who are smartphone users across all stages of life and Healofy is helping these women access credible content through a trusted community model in 9 Indian Languages - English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam.

Healofy also connects women by different interest areas that they want to pursue such as earning from home, learning different skill sets, fashion, fitness, lifestyle, etc.

About Gaurav Aggarwal

Gaurav Aggarwal, CEO, hails from Delhi. He studied Electrical Engg from IIT Guwahati. Healofy is his 3rd venture. He was awarded Forbes 30 under 30 Asia in 2017.

About Shubham Maheshwari

Shubham Maheshwari, CTO, studied Computer Science from NIT Warangal. He has worked with companies like Flipkart and CodeNation for a couple of years and awarded Forbes 30 under 30 Asia in 2017.

Cohort 3.0 by CoWrks Foundry Introduces 8 Innovative, Disruptive Startups

The CoWrks Foundry announced the successful conclusion of its third cohort, comprising of eight startups. The CoWrks Foundry offers rigorous 24-week accelerator program for early stage startups that are looking to forge their innovative solutions in Urban Tech, Enterprise Tech and Social Enterprise.

A total of 450+ startups have applied for the third cohort program and 15 were shortlisted from them, which were further reviewed by the investment committee. After the conclusion of the review process, 8 startups were finalized to be a part of the accelerator program.

The Cohort 3.0 consists of an electric mix of eight tech and enterprise businesses which offer disruptive business solutions which are futuristic and potential growth drivers. The shortlisted startups are:

1. Instoried - AI-driven deep tech content startup Instoried helps brands predict the emotional impact of their content upon their customers' minds. Instoried has created a tool, which helps brands to strategies, execute, and deliver content using predictive analysis to increase customer engagement. The B2B SaaS-based startup helps brands to boost engagement and increase content productivity in real-time.


2. Botspace - BotSpace helps businesses build chatbots in 5 mins without training, coding or bot deployment knowledge. BotSpace works with both big and small businesses. Enterprises and Agencies can use BotSpace Creator Studio to deploy chatbots from a list of pre-built templates.


3. Happy Locate - Founded by Ajay Tiwari & Sainadh Duvvuru, Happylocate is India's first automation based relocation management system of the country that takes care of corporate relocations end to end. The key attraction of the startup is its proprietary cloud-based relocation management solution that helps corporates manage even 1000 relocations under 1 minute. That's 1/100th of the time taken otherwise. With verified movers serviceable across 15000 Pin Codes and with 16,000+ hotels across India, custom in-built approval flow, asset light operation model and a range of other benefits, Happylocate is already the exclusive relocation partner for some of the largest corporates including Quess Corp, ITC Infotech, Coca Cola and a lot more


4. Yogya - Yogya is a talent capability enhancer which acts as an assistant to leaders to identify the skill gaps in their organisations and empower them to close gaps faster powered by AI. For Employees, Yogya is a real time performance support system which will make them more productive and future proof.


5. Lockn - Lockn transforms the way people access and interact with their environment. Lockn builds a world where every object around us can securely recognise our physical presence with our permission to provide us with a frictionless experience, personalized to our individual needs and preferences.


6. Huviair - Huviair is an Enterprise Drone Technology Startup. Using GIS and deep learning techniques, the Huviair Software analyzes on-site drone data to accurately monitor and measure the progress and deviations of projects in the Real Estate, Infrastructure and Mining sectors.


7. Bhorzvan - is a Power-Train designer and Manufacturer for Electric Vehicles right from Scooters up to Trucks. It has developed one of the highest power dense yet highly efficient Motors and Controls for EVs combined with an active liquid cooling battery pack that can deliver both High power as well as increased range with the same Lithium cells used by other manufacturers.


8. Refresh - Refresh re-cycles and up-cycles old and unusable textile waste into handmade rugs, and furnishings by training and skilling women communities across India. Refresh uses waste fabric to make home furnishing through upcycling and recycling methods.

Speaking about Cohort 3.0, Nruthya Madappa, Managing Partner, The CoWrks Foundry said, “We are proud to introduce Cohort 3.0. Since the inception of The CoWrks Foundry in 2017, we have mentored and worked with 24 start-ups. Their journeys have been inspiring and it’s a huge driving force for all of us at The CoWrks Foundry. We endeavor to offer world-class mentorship, international exposure and assist with everything from initial seed capital to client acquisition to help them engineer advanced solutions to business challenges. Cohort 3.0 brings together eight passionate and innovative startups which could potentially be the growth drivers for the Indian Economy.”

During the 24-week accelerator program these startups have achieved a growth in business of 20x and have altered both their mindsets and growth trajectories. Over the course of the program, these eight startups have been equipped with a seed capital of up to $50,000 and were provided with a diverse range of resources including industry experts providing targeted world-class mentorship to each startup, which has helped them gain a strong appeal in the marketplace.

About The CoWrks Foundry

The CoWrks Foundry, based out of Bangalore, is a premier acceleration program for early stage businesses in the fields of Urban Tech, Enterprise Tech and Social Enterprise. The CoWrks Foundry was built to inspire and enable entrepreneurs to build innovative, scalable solutions in tough industries. Through a challenging curriculum developed with global experts and strong post-program support, The CoWrks Foundry provides entrepreneurs with frameworks, tailored mentorship, intelligent capital and a deep network to build resilient technology companies out of India.

India Contactless Payment Market to Witness Robust Growth through 2024

Increasing smartphone penetration and integration of contactless cards with the existing cards are boosting the growth of the contactless payment market in India

According to TechSci Research report, “India Contactless Payment Market By Component, By Device Type, By End User,  By Region, By Company, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2024”, India contactless payment market is expected to grow at a formidable rate over the forecast period on the back of increasing penetration of internet coupled with rising implementation of contactless payment solutions and services across the country.

In addition, the contactless payments are reliable and safe to use, which is further fueling their use in India. Rising awareness about the technology along with growing investments by private and public capital holders in the research and development activities is anticipated to improve the service, thus propelling the growth of India contactless payment market through 2024.

The growing requirement to pay fast without having any cash or identity details is making contactless payment mode a game changer. However, high installation costs of EPOS terminals is posing a challenge to the players operating in the market.

India contactless payment market can be segmented based on Component, Device Type, End User and Region. Considering the Device Type, the market can be segmented into Point of Sale Terminals, Cards, NFC Chips, Mobile Handsets & Others. Among them, mobile handsets accounted for the largest market share until 2018, and the segment is expected to maintain its leadership position during the forecast period. This is mainly due to increasing investments by tech giants such as Apple, Samsung and others for integrating contactless payment technologies in their devices.

However, smart cards would register the fastest growth over the next five years owing to benefits like security, flexibility, convenience, and ease in replacement in case of mishaps.

Gemalto NV, Apple Inc., Visa Inc., Infineon Technologies India Private Limited, Ingenico India, Smart Technology Solutions Ltd., Verifone India, Oberthur Technology India Pvt Ltd, JP Morgan India Pvt Ltd and RBL Bank Limited, among others are the leading players operating in India contactless payment market. “India contactless payment market is expected to grow substantially during the forecast period, which can be attributed to reduced transaction time, convenience in processing low-value payments and increasing revenue opportunities.

In addition to this, the rising frequency of purchases coupled with the need for fast transactions with no delay are the key factors for  boosting the growth of contactless payment market in the country through 2024.

Based on end user, the retail sector dominated the market which can be attributed to increasing implementation of contactless payment solutions due to large customer base and a huge volume of payment transactions to be handled on a daily basis.”, said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research, a research-based India management consulting firm.

According to TechSci Research  “India Contactless Payment Market By Component, By Device Type, By End User, By Region, By Company, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2024” has evaluated the future growth potential of India contactless payment market and provides statistics & information on market size, structure and future market growth. The report intends to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers take sound investment decisions. Besides, the report also identifies and analyzes the emerging trends along with essential drivers, challenges and opportunities in India contactless payment market.

download sample report  - https://www.techsciresearch.com/sample-report.aspx?cid=4255  (customers can also request for 10% free customization on this report).

OncoStem Diagnostics named ‘Best Innovation- Cancer Risk Assessment’ by NASSCOM Life Sciences and Healthcare Innovation Forum

OncoStem Diagnostics, an Oncology focused company that enables personalised cancer treatment was named as ‘Best Innovation- Cancer Risk Assessment’ by NASSCOM’s CoE’s (Centre of Excellence) Life Sciences and healthcare innovation forum(LHIF).

NASSCOM invited applications from eligible startups working in healthcare to apply for the #LHIF Startup Awards 2019. A jury consisting of industry stalwarts and healthcare professionals selected six high-impact and tech-driven healthcare startups breaking new ground in the fields of Healthcare, Lifesciences, Medical Devices, Pharma and Insurance. Startups were selected based on their innovation quotient and impact. OncoStem’s test CanAssist Breast was awarded the “Best Innovation- Cancer Risk Assessment”.

CanAssist Breast is a prognostic test for early-stage hormone receptor positive breast cancer patients. It makes customized treatment possible by analysing the patients tumor in depth and providing a patient specific report. CanAssist Breast categorizes patients based on the risk of cancer recurrence clearly as either ‘low or high’ with no grey area in between.

This clear distinction of patients based on risk of cancer recurrence allows doctors to devise treatment plans that are in tune with the prognosis, maintaining a balance between the benefits and side effects.Patients who are at low risk of relapse can potentially avoid chemotherapy and its associated side-effects while patients who are at high risk of relapse would benefit from the addition of chemotherapy to their treatment regimen.

Speaking about the award, Dr Manjiri Bakre, CEO and Founder, OncoStem Diagnostics said “We are extremely happy to receive this award and to be recognized by an eminent body like NASSCOM. At OncoStem, our vision is to develop innovative tests that aid personalized cancer therapy and improve a patient’s quality of life.  This recognition strengthens our commitment towards providing personalized treatments that are suited to a patient’s condition”

About OncoStem Diagnostics 

OncoStem Diagnostics develops innovative multi-marker prognostic tests to enable  personalized treatment of cancer patients. Founded by Dr Manjiri Bakre, OncoStem’s ‘CanAssist Breast’ is an innovative, cost effective test that can help clinicians to plan tailor made treatment for each breast cancer patient based on tumor biology.

The risk of cancer recurrence is dependent on tumor type, stage and on the biology of each patient’s tumor. ‘CanAssist-Breast’ determines the proteomic fingerprint of the tumor.  This information is then used by OncoStem’s proprietary machine learning-based algorithm that stratifies patients as ‘low- or high-’ risk for cancer recurrence. Patients classified as ‘high-risk’ would have a greater probability of the cancer recurring than those classified as low-risk. This will guide clinicians in planning treatment and help  patients in understanding the prognosis of their disease.

OncoStem is currently working on similar tests for other subtypes of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. OncoStem has raised US $9 million in  funding from Sequoia Capital and Artiman Ventures.

Alphalogic Techsys to foray into Document Automation Software Space

Alphalogic Techsys, Pune based boutique software solutions company today announced that it is foraying into Document Automation Software space. Leveraging the benefits of AI technology, Alphalogic will be the first company in India to make Smart Document Generation Management systems for start-ups and enterprises.

The software by Alphalogic will allow the creation of unlimited documents, cabinets and folders. So, it helps in managing the different documents by putting them into corresponding cabinets e.g. Marketing, Sales, HR. This ensures easy handling of the documents as well as retrieval of the same when required.
The document automation industry is still at a very nascent stage in India, with a few players with niche product offering. However, Alphalogic Techsys aims to provide Document Automation Solution to enterprises across industries irrespective of the size of the company.



Commenting on the same, Mr. Anshu Goel, Founder & CEO, Alphalogic Techsys says, “Creation and management of documents in day-to-day business practice is a cumbersome process. We aim to make it easier for businesses to generate and manage their documents over the cloud. We have been working on a document management engine that would be powered by Artificial Intelligence, so that documents are created online, with less human intervention and error-free.”

“Our software will provide reliable document automation to start-ups and large organizations, where they can rely on us for accurate, efficient, and error free generation of high value content”, he further added.

The company has recently opened its IPO, and got an overwhelming response from investors. As per the company’s plan, the funds are being used to develop and introduce a variety of advanced technology software solutions in a simple and cost-effective manner.

About Alphalogic Techsys Limited:

Alphalogic Techsys Limited is a boutique Software Consulting Firm that helps its clients with their digital transformation needs. Alphalogic' motto is 'Making Software Simple'. Alphalogic has its development center in Pune, India but serves its customers globally. Alphalogic works with clients from early stage startups to established SMB's and Fortune 500s from over 12 countries.

Meet the 7 Finalists of 'Social Entrepreneur of the Year India Awards'

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, the sister organisation of the World Economic Forum and the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation, a not for profit organisation of Jubilant Bhartia Group today announced the finalists of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY)- India 2019 award.

The finalists were identified following an intensive search and selection process, including expert reviews, background research, reference checks and site visits.

The seven finalists of the award are:

1. Gaurav Mehta of Dharma Life, New Delhi


2. Shanti Raghavan and Dipesh Sutariya of EnAble India, Bengaluru


3. Mukteshwari Bosco of Healing Fields Foundation, Hyderabad


4. Nand Kishore Chaudhary of Jaipur Rugs, Jaipur


5. Bijal Brahmbhatt of Mahila Housing SEWA Trust, Ahmedabad


6. Aakash Sethi of Quest Alliance, Bengaluru


7. Sanjeev Kumar of The Goat Trust, Lucknow

Of the seven finalists, the winner will be chosen by a distinguished jury. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs & Ministry of Civil Aviation and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Government of India will present the award at a special ceremony on Thursday, 3rd October, 2019 which is part of the India Economic Summit organised by World Economic Forum and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). 

The winner of SEOY India will join the world’s largest network of social enterprises affiliated with The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

The finalists of the SEOY India award are the tech-enabled social entrepreneurs who are helping in bridging the gap between the marginalised and the mainstream, by working in fields of livelihood generation for rural women, livestock entrepreneurship, creating safe & sustainable habitats, improving rural health, empowering people with disabilities and art preservation through empowerment of artisans. These social entrepreneurs have brought disruption in their respective fields with their innovative ideas. They have demonstrated that through empowerment of marginalised rural women, people with disabilities, small livestock farmers and grassroots artisans, India can move closer to inclusive growth.

Over the years, SEOY India award has established itself as one of the most reputed and coveted award for social entrepreneurs in India. This year the award celebrates its 10th year. In 2010, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and Jubilant Bhartia Foundation came together to promote social innovation in India through the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) India Award. The annual award recognises entrepreneurs who implement innovative, sustainable and scalable solutions to solve social problems. These entrepreneurs address pressing issues faced by under-served communities.

The SEOY India award 2019 opened in March this year and received over 120 applications from 19 cities. This year saw over 30 applications from women social entrepreneurs. The categories of intervention include enterprise development, disability, water & sanitation, labour conditions, micro finance, housing, fair trade, energy, sustainable farming, communication media, clean technology and nutrition. In this year’s applications, health sector (43%) lead the nomination tally followed by education (40%), environment (27%) and rural development (26%).

Brief Descriptions of the Finalists: 

Gaurav Mehta
Dharma Life, New Delhi (www. dharmalife.in)
Echoing the belief that economically empowered women leads to empowered families; Dharma Life is providing women in rural India the opportunity to earn a livelihood while driving social change in their villages. These reformed women entrepreneurs, also referred as ‘Dharma Life Entrepreneurs’ (DLE) are changing the face of women empowerment in India.

Determined to create the largest network of female change agents, Dharma Life has  trained and engaged around 16,000 Dharma Life Entrepreneurs (76% women) across 13 states in India. By honing the entrepreneurial skills of rural women Dharma Life is optimising a woman led entrepreneur-based model that delivers critical products and services to low income households. This includes creation of livelihoods for the DLE, training and certification of the DLEs in rural sales entrepreneurship (certified by the National Skills Development Corporation (Government of India) and IFC), sustainable income creation for the Dharma Life Entrepreneurs as well as increased equity in society for them. Reached more than 1,50,000 households and over 1.3 million women with financial literacy campaign.

It addresses key and interlinked levers of social change – livelihood creation, digital empowerment, water, hygiene & sanitation, menstrual hygiene & family planning, energy access & clean cooking and nutrition.

Shanti Raghavan and Dipesh Sutariya   
EnAble India, Bengaluru (www.enableindia.org)
EnAble India (EI) is rapidly building the Indian eco-system of skilling, employment and entrepreneurship for persons with disabilities (PwDs) through technology innovations, breakthroughs in skill trainings, new workplace solutions and behaviour change tools. By changing the mindset of 729 business houses and building frameworks of inclusion in universities and government agencies, EI has created a robust business case for employing PwDs in formal and informal sectors across India.

Over 20 years, Shanti, Dipesh and their teams have cumulatively transformed the lives of 2,20,000 individuals with disabilities and their families, community leaders and employers, across 28 states. Working across a wide bench of 14 disabilities, all EI trainees perform at par, and receive salaries at par with their non-disabled peers. Through partnerships with 200 non-profit organisations, EnAble India is set to transform one million PwDs as confident tax payers, active citizens and nation-builders over the next three years.

Mukteshwari Bosco    
Healing Fields Foundation, Hyderabad (www.healing-fields.org)
Healing Fields Foundation (HFF) is building vibrant eco-systems of rural health care in areas where basic health services are absent or severely deficient. It is doing so by transforming once- voiceless and marginalised women into community healthcare entrepreneurs and health leaders who have a stake in the well-being of their communities. Backed with training in basic health care and innovative technologies (including a health decision-support app), more than 5000 trained community health entrepreneurs have taken healthcare information to nearly 12,50,000 individuals in the most backward districts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Jharkhand. 66% report a 100-200% income increase as a local health entrepreneur. HFF has also kept its eye on enhanced health outcomes. 98% of service users have reported improved health knowledge; 71% regularly practise positive health behaviours and 89% families are immunising their children. Additionally, 1000 school health champions trained by HFF across Telengana have reached 150,000 people with information on health education, nutrition and healthcare products. The HFF model is currently being replicated in Indonesia.

Nand Kishore Chaudhary

Jaipur Rugs Ltd., Jaipur Living, Jaipur Rugs Foundation

Jaipur (www.jaipurrugs.com)
Jaipur Rugs [Featured Story] has catapulted more than 40,000 artisans (weavers and spinners) into artists, designers, entrepreneurs, teachers and quality control experts in the high-end, global, luxury carpet segment in 600 villages. By tripling incomes for women carpet weavers and enhancing their well-being and leadership, it has demonstrated that business success can combine as much meaning and purpose for customers, as it does for its rural and tribal artisans, and their families.

Jaipur Rugs is an exclusive, handmade carpet and rugs company, serving consumers across 62 countries. Upturning the exploitative practises of the carpet weaving industry, it has integrated ethical business practices with grassroots women’s entrepreneurship and created a business culture of empathy and care. Sharing growth benefits with its artisans, Jaipur Rugs runs an exclusive line of ‘Artisan Originals’ where weavers are the designers of their own rugs, showcasing their artistic creation on national and international platforms.

Impacted over 1,29,000 lives across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, Jaipur Rugs has put the locus of control back in the hands of village level bunkar sakhis and artisans not just through enhanced incomes, but also through leadership trainings, financial literacy and health services.

Bijal Brahmbhatt
Mahila Housing SEWA Trust (MHT), Ahmedabad (www.mahilahousingtrust.org)
By putting poor women in charge of their neighbourhoods, Mahila Housing SEWA Trust (MHT) is changing the face of India’s sprawling urban slums. Viewing habitat as essential to the well-being of a person, MHT mobilises, organises and trains women leaders or ‘Vikasinis’, to participate, design and drive urban planning and the development of their areas. The women map infrastructure gaps, deploy clean energy solutions and partner with local governments and the private sector for basic services like water, sanitation, power, sewerage and advocate for tenure rights. By building the social and leadership capital of resource-poor urban women, MHT ensures they access secure habitats and a quality of life deserving to all citizens.

Serving four lakh poor households, MHT has scaled its work to 34 cities across eight states in India. Reaching 1.7 million poor individuals, it has legalised power connections for nearly two lakh households, and potable water to 48,000.  Close to 57,000 households have built toilets and 30,500 have invested in energy saving products. In a major win, 22,563 Households have secured registration of property titles, resulting in a tangible asset for the poor. With urban population set to increase by nearly 50% by 2030, the MHT model offers a solid women and citizen-led strategy for transforming India’s squalid slums into safe, clean, climate friendly, vibrant socio-economic hubs.                       

Aakash Sethi
Quest Alliance, Bengaluru (www.questalliance.net) 

65% of children starting school today will hold jobs that do not exist yet. They are likely to have four or five careers over the course of their working life. Additionally, technology is rapidly changing job roles and rendering trade-specific skill trainings irrelevant. For Quest Alliance, self-learning and 21st century skills are then, the new life skills that youth will need to thrive, not just survive, in fast digitising economies.

Quest Alliance has integrated education technologies, curriculum and the culture and practise of self-learning and 21st century skills into India’s education and skill-training system.  By doing so, it is transforming institutions, educators, skill trainers, while enabling unemployable youth to respond to a fast digitising economy, enhance their learnability and build rewarding career pathways.

Through partnerships with 100 non-profit partners and state governments, the Quest Alliance model has been embedded in 5,000 government schools and 800 vocational training centres and ITIs across nine states. It has impacted 3,00,000 adolescent and youth (of which 50% are women) from rural, peri-urban, minority and other excluded communities. 70% of the youth who go through the Quest model are placed in jobs, with a majority reporting an average upward mobility of income of 170% (income compared to their current annual family incomes). A formal Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of India opened the pathway for more than five million adolescent and youth to be impacted by the Quest Alliance model over five years.

Sanjeev Kumar    


The Goat Trust Group of Social Ventures (www.thegoattrust.org)

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh



The Goat Trust Group of Social Ventures is revitalising ailing, rural economies by transforming once marginalised and scattered women goat farmers into formidable network of small livestock entrepreneurs. Sanjeev and his team take a three-pronged approach for putting women in charge of small livestock husbandry: Innovations in micro-leasing (allowing a woman to lease and rear a goat); a network of 1000 ‘pashu sakhis’ or mature women goat farmers who offer scientific livestock rearing and veterinarian services for a fee; and innovative technologies, including a goat health app and an e-commerce platform for women farmers to connect with distant markets and access fair price for their livestock.

Together, this approach has enabled 3,00,000 ultra-poor women from marginalised communities to scale their small livestock farming value chains. They have enhanced their annual incomes from upwards of Rs 70,000 to Rs 900,000. Collectively, they have organised into 25 producer organisations with annual turnover of Rs 500 million. The Goat Trust group has scaled its model in 18 states through the state rural livelihoods mission machinery, focussing on difficult agro climatic zone like dry lands, forest fringe villages and flood-affected areas. More than 84 non-profit organisations across India, West Africa and Afghanistan, have been trained in its ‘Goat Gurukul’ to create the groundswell of women small livestock husbandry leaders.

Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship was co-founded by Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, and his wife Hilde. For twenty years, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship has supported the world’s leading social entrepreneurs in their efforts to create a more just, equitable, and sustainable world. The Schwab Foundation provides unparalleled platforms at the regional and global level to highlight and advance leading models of sustainable social innovation.

Learn more at www.schwabfound.org and follow on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/schwabfound

Jubilant Bhartia Foundation (JBF), established in 2007, is the not-for-profit organisation of the Jubilant Bhartia Group. It focuses on conceptualising and implementing the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives (CSR) for the Group. The Jubilant Bhartia Foundation’s activities include various community development work, healthcare programs, cultural and sports events, environmental preservation initiative, vocational training, women empowerment, educational activities and promotion of Social Entrepreneurship.